Long journeys begin with the first step.

Welcome to the first entry of what I hope is a fun experience. My motto has always been "If you can't have fun at work, you might as well not show up". This ought to carry through just about everything, with the possible exception of hitting one's toe with a flooring hammer. I have it on good authority that that's not worth showing up for. The main objective will be to share our building experience, and to have a good time.
By the grace of God and dumb luck, we found the dream property. Forty acres with a creek, a little valley and a pre-existing 3 car garage, and a decent double-wide. The view off the back is spectacular. It has a good well and the house site is well above the flood zone. Wo Hoo! Elk and eagles abound. Deer, coyotes..and it's too wet for rattlesnakes! A big deal for two kids who grew up in the desert.
Ed and I moved to southwest Washington on Thanksgiving day 2005. After a 15 hour drive from Santa Cruz, California (yes, more of those dreaded Californians) we arrived tired and excited with a dog, two really irritated cats, a pickup truck loaded to the gills, towing a trailor with the beloved but neglected Boss 302 Mustang. We looked like an ad for a Steinbeck movie.
Fortunately only the most important stuff we owned was in cardboard boxes in the truck. The rest was due in a week via moving van. Did I mention it was raining? Of course it was! The cardboard was not happy.
We've cleared acres of blackberry vines, some with canes the size of small trees. They were so thick in places it completely hid the hulk of an old pickup truck. Only when we got the old vines beaten back and a scrap metal hauler in to remove it did we discover the hay baler behind it! The darned vines were so thick you couldn't even see it! We hauled 24 old tires to the dump, and removed miles of barbed wire cross fencing. Man, that's nasty stuff! With that done, Ed built a beautiful barn ( http://www.unclehowards.com/) with the help of family, friends, and neighbors. Yes, a good old fashioned barn raising! Do you have any idea how many smoked ribs and potato salad it takes to feed 12 ravenous guys? Well.. it's a lot!
Last summer was the Septic Summer. Ed updated and expanded the septic system in anticipation of starting the real building project. which is.... Taa Daa .. http://www.robinsonplans.com/

Since we already have the existing garage and a spectacular view off the back into the valley, we decided to build the house and garage side by side instead of in an el as shown. The garage studio will be first. We will live in the studio above while we build the house. and yes,
Ed will be building it by himself.

And so it begins. We were waiting for it to stop raining so we could start construction. AHAHAHAHAHAA It's Washington. It rains here all the time. Actually that's a well-cultivated lie. The weather here is amazing...but I digress. Ed has started ripping off the roof of the garage.
Thank goodness for the tractor. What a workhorse!





The twins, Midnight and Mittens are functioning as union stewards. They use every opportunity to check out the job site. They don't seem to be bothered by the noise of the tractor, the nail guns or the compressor. They just won't wear the darned hardhats!
Ed is only home three days a week to work on the house, and it kills him when the weather gets in the way. So he decided to just go ahead and rip the plywood off anyway and make good use of tarps for the stuff left in the garage. The lumber delivery is enroute and he wants to get the new header up as soon as possible. Ok and I'll just say this once.. I'm not doing the work, I'm just typing, so if I use the wrong term or call something by the wrong name..well.. nobody dies. Just take a breath, OK? So here's the first load of stuff .. wood, joists, gluelam, shingles, exterior wrap. It's kinda like getting all the stuff under the Christmas tree but not being able to open anything to play with it.
And to me, it's all a bit overwhelming. How does he know where all that stuff goes? Or how it goes together..or if something's missing? But Ed says it's just a whole lot of baby steps. Heck, I don't even know how to crawl! Guess I'll learn.